The (Mis)Adventures of Toshi and the Vamp
by MissDiRed
Summary: A story in which someone's really tired of Toshinori's self-destructing shit and decides to take care of him; only accidentally the said someone happening to be badass entity. Do not take seriously.
1. Zero

Hi, it's Mort, waltzing into yet another fandom because I can. I have some kind of fixation about throwing another race/power/oddity into the series where it original exists. So, as when in Just (out of) Ordinary we have magic, here will be monsters. So it's an AU. A lot. It's also corespondent to J(oo)O; may eventually crossover a bit becasue magic happens.

Enjoy; this is an All Might (Toshinori) x OC story.

* * *

The day was sunny; air was dry, and hot, and stiff. Unbearably so. It was hard to breathe, almost painful with how each breath dried the throat and nose. In such awful weather, all the senses were dulled; taste and smell wouldn't work, because tongue and nose were to dry, eyes couldn't see well in bright, blinding light, and with constant ringing in ears it was hard to hear anything. The worst of all, though, was, of course heat. It felt as if there was waterfall on heated skin, damping clothes, squeezing the remaining water out of body.

It was, truly, and awful, awful weather today. Sun was shining, air was stiff, birds hid under the trees and streets were absolutely desolate because of it. It was simply too hot. There was no one in the city who would be masochist enough to go on a walk in a weather like that; not by their own free will.

There were, though, people who had work to do. And in some cases, this work required a lot of moving; something not welcome when temperature is enough to dehydrate the body.

Karen watched amused, as the battle underneath her kept her entertained. She was wandering the town completely and utterly bored, dressed in just white sweatshirt, violet shorts and white flip-flops, armed with creamy-colored umbrella and nearly instinctively cooling the temperature around her. She didn't exactly stumble upon the fight by accident, no. Enhanced senses had their pros, working even in such hellish atmosphere, and since she was bored, she just followed sounds of the fight. And was very amused by her finding.

For there was that unmistakable, blonde-haired, very muscled guy with hair going up and resembling rabbit ears, and even she knew who he was; All Might, hero of heroes. In Japan at least. But he was apparently having a problem with a crocodile-like creature, with thick skin, sharp claws and powerful tail. It was obvious that All Might had the 'luck' of running into few fights one after another, without as much as break; and now, standing before crocodile-morpher, his body was too fatigued, wounds flown with sweat too painful in the sun, and the Symbol of Peace was failing. There was nobody around; nobody except Karen.

Woman sighed heavily, brushing her hand through her black, wavy hair. She had promised herself that she won't interfere into whatever humans were doing, but everything about this guy screamed for help and she was nearly giving in.

No matter how strong, there's only as much as a human can do. And All Might didn't even appear to be very healthy to begin with.

Crocodile monster was about to bite his leg off, something he couldn't avoid anymore as his body refused to work, but suddenly it stopped. Creamy-colored umbrella, now damped in red blood, pierced creature through its neck ripping one of creature's main veins. It gurgled, and trashed, but it eventually went stiff in growing pool of its own blood.

"It's a nice day, Mr. All Might, isn't it?" Karen smiled with her lips tightly shut, not even bothering to retrieve her umbrella.

All Might's legs finally gave up, as he fell down to his knees, particularly ugly cut on outer side of his thigh opening itself more. His signature smile was gone, replaced by pure fatigue, but it was hard to blame him. He apparently just had a bad… 'eventful', let's call it, day.

"Who are you?" he asked, and Karen watched slightly surprised as his form suddenly began to shrink, and soon what she had faced was very skinny, very sickly and very tired man with a wild hairstyle.

"I'm Karen. Miyamoto Karen. Nice to meet you" Karen answered politely, fishing a untouched water bottle out of her purse, and handing it out to the man. "Here, you look like you need it."

Man eyed her suspiciously for a while, but it would appear that thirst was stronger than distrust, so shortly after he was gulping the water down, emptying the bottle in one go.

"How did you get here?" he asked, throwing an empty bottle into the dumpster.

"Via rooftops, duh" Karen shrugged. "What's your name? You know mine."

"…Toshinori."

"Well, Toshi, you know that pushing too far is not a good way to go?" Karen asked, and man just huffed, turning his head around.

"Villains need to be stopped, people must be saved. As many as I can."

"Even if you could die in process?" Karen questioned further, cocking her head like an interested dog.

"I'm a hero. I've condemned my life to others" Toshinori answered seriously. Karen smiled widely, showing off her pearly-white teeth that included mainly fangs, and the man shivered at the sight.

"I like you. You're not like most of the humans. You're not corrupted. I thought that people like you are long since gone" Karen mused, standing up. "You're interesting fellow, you know. How about we do something about that wounds, I treat you for a dinner and then you'll go back to heroing around?"

"Are you always so open towards strangers?" Toshinori huffed, standing up shakily.

"Sometimes. That's the only way to make friends I know of anyway."

"And you want to be friends with All Might, huh? No wonder" man huffed.

"Who cares about All Might" Karen snorted. "I want to be friends with Toshi."

Toshinori sighed, resigned. This woman was weird; very weird. She gave out some sort of unsettling vibe, but he couldn't place the feeling. Like she was something exceptionally dangerous, but her friendly aura dimmed the sensation nearly completely.

If he only knew what he got himself into.

(Not that he minded, later on.)


	2. One

This is not what All Might – Toshinori – is used to. He's used to being crowded by people in his hero form, but those are just fans, and ignored in his true form for the looser he is. He is not used to being in his true form and still getting attention from someone repeatedly. Let alone a beautiful woman Karen is, for being himself, not All Might.

But there he is, in his true, lanky form, overly-baggy clothes, sitting by the table in small café that serves surprisingly good hot chocolate and vanilla shortcake (he'll deal with digesting problems later, let him have something nice from time to time). And Karen just across him; ebony waves of her hair held tightly in a ponytail, as she played with her bracelet waiting for her order to come up. She wore quite loose dress with white, flowery top and plain, reddish-pink bottom; and, of course, a wide hat.

She said she had a sun allergy, but she still risked getting burns and came over to meet him in broad sunlight, at noon in summer. Toshinori, however, got more-less used to woman's oddities by now, after two weeks of regularly meeting her.

"Gosh, I'm so stupid" woman complained. "Next time we'll meet somewhere more… Shady. Preferably indoors, because I'm dying here."

"What are you, creature of the night?" man chuckled, and Karen smiled, her lips closed, as always, never flashing her teeth.

"Maybe."

"Heh" Toshinori took his cup of hot chocolate from a waiter who just came over. "How about a movie then?"

"Hmm, that would be nice" Karen agreed. "What would you like?"

"That's my question" Toshinori huffed. "Honestly, you don't have to do that."

"I have to think about a lot of things that happen, I have to decide a lot of things and take care about even more stuff. So do me a favor and decide for me, okay?" woman sighed, piercing through her cake with a fork.

"What do you do then?" man asked. That was a good question, honestly; he know little to nothing about her after all.

"I run a business" she rolled her eyes. "I have net of luxury hotels all around the world and travelling agency, I need to keep the shit moving. Sometimes I work my ass of, and if it weren't for me, my incompetent co-workers would bring it to ruin."

"Why don't you fire them, then?"

"I did. I do, still. But each time I fire one idiot, they somehow get replaced with someone even dumber, and that's agitating!" Karen hissed, clenching her fists. "Ugh, why can't Kurona just sped up and became an adult already? I could really use someone else intelligent than just my sister around."

"Kurona?" Toshinori asked, eyeing Karen. Woman sighed, fixing her hat and making sure too much sun doesn't touch her skin before she spoke:

"My daughter, Kurona. She's seventeen" she answered, taking a bite of her cake. Toshinori, on the other hand, just gaped at her in pure disbelief, not really able to speak. "What?"

"Just how old are you?" he managed to finally gasp.

"Old. Way older than I'd like to be. And definitely old enough to be having a nearly-adult child. And two pretty much failed marriages, but let's leave that here."

"I'd give my hand that you're thirty-few max" Toshinori muttered under his breath before taking a big sip of his chocolate. Karen looked very youthful; too youthful perhaps. But he decided to believe her. Women did, after all, know thousands of tricks to keep their looks young. He was not going to argue with that.

"How about you, then?" Karen asked, making the man flinch.

"What about me?" he asked, even though he knew exactly what she meant.

"Well, what do you do when you're not heroing around."

She didn't need to know about him. Not really.

"Well?"

"I don't even know why are you so interested in me!" Toshinori raised his voice as much as his lungs allowed him to, pulsating with cold pain. "Whenever I'm not All Might, I'm nothing. I'm pathetic wreck of a man; a looser. So do me a favor and stop toying with me."

"You think I'd bother so much if I was just playing with you?" Karen asked, and he shivered, because for the first time ever she sounded and looked serious; stern, regal perhaps. Even in that big hat, and floral dress, she still looked like a lady. Air around her suddenly grew cold, and he could've sworn he felt the metallic scent of blood.

"Then why?" he managed to utter, clenching his fists on the fabric of his baggy pants.

"Because" she stood up and walked over to him. "Unlike ninety eight and a half percent of whole human population, you don't stink of rotting soul."

He found no words to answer that, too dumbfounded, too surprised with the sudden outburst. Karen smiled, and she was back, the cheerful her he knew.

"Sorry about that, but you hurt me a little with your logic" she apologized. "See you around."

He gasped when she suddenly pressed her lips against heated skin of his cheek, touch as delicate s butterfly's wings lingering long after she was gone.

(He was starting to doubt she was even human.)


	3. Two

Shit starts going down.

* * *

Whole week has passed since their last meeting, and Toshinori was growing slightly anxious, because Karen didn't give as much as sign of life in past days. Now, about a month into their… Acquaintanceship, he knew that Karen was quite talkative. She kept sending him text messages from time to time, few times a day, but it wasn't annoying. This time, however, she'd grown silent, and he hadn't heard of her. For whole week. And for some reason, he grew slightly anxious of her safety.

There were two possibilities, actually.

He didn't like neither of them.

First possibility was that she got in trouble; second, that she was toying with him and got tired of his presence.

He preferred the first option and loathed himself for that, hoping her to be safe.

On the seventh day of silence, when the sun was already set and it was getting very, very late, Toshinori sat on the soft couch of his little apartment, looking at the TV without much concern. His limit was reached, his work done, and he was gathering strength for the next day. He wore dark gray, long-sleeved shirt, long pants patterned in blue tartan and fluffy socks; even if it was summer. His mass, or lack of it, made it exceptionally hard to keep his body temperature at regular thirty-six degrees. Thus, even in summer, he dressed in long-sleeved clothes. During winter only thick, woolen clothes could save him.

He nearly jumped, when his phone buzzed suddenly, announcing incoming call. He picked it up rather lazily, but then accepted the call immediately after reading the name.

"Karen-?"

"You have a sewing kit?"

Quick glance at the rack under the TV, and he nodded, "yes, I do."

"Good. May I come in?" Karen asked, sounding very tired and perhaps even pained.

"What-?"

"Just allow me to come in, okay?" she hissed, annoyed. "I'm on your windowsill with my guts basically out, so I would really appreciate if you could speed up a bit!"

"Where?"

"Kitchen."

Toshinori forgot last time he ran so fast, especially through his flat. He was by the kitchen's window within seconds, opening it in one swift motion. She really was there, curled up on his windowsill, one hand holding the phone by her ear, and the other clutched to her abdomen. Her white shirt was torn and soaked in red; as red as her eyes. Toshinori would perhaps bother to be scared by them, if he weren't so alarmed by her wound and thick, metallic odor of blood.

"Dear lord, get in" he gasped, instantly wrapping his hands around her frame. How he managed to actually switch to his hero form, he didn't know. He didn't care about his own blood gathering in his throat either, carrying Karen into the living room, sitting her onto the couch and having no idea what to do next.

"Sewing kit" Karen barked out, ripping her shirt off, along with everything else. Toshinori got much better view at her upper half than he would like; or was appropriate. He got very good look at torn skin around the wound, and that was not pretty. It started just below her throat and reached below her belly button.

He took the kit into his now-skinny hands, his hero from already faded away, and handed the kit to the woman. She just sighed, picking the strongest thread and the biggest needle, before assembling it and just pierced her skin where it wasn't so tattered, bringing it together up from her throat.

"What are you looking at?" Karen hissed, but more amused than anything. "Help me."

"But-"

"I really don't mind if you touch my boobs" she added, and Toshinori cursed under his breath. Of course she noticed him staring, even if he tried his best to not to.

It took less than he expected it to take, though, because fifteen minutes later Karen's skin was firmly held together by two layers of thick, black thread. She looked pleased by the effect; and appeared to not to be ashamed by her nakedness at all.

"I'll bring you a shirt, okay?" he managed to stutter at last, absolutely flustered. Woman snorted, standing up a bit shakily and wrapped her hands around his waist.

"Bring me a shorts or something, too. Not gonna sleep in jeans" she giggled. "And don't be so flustered. I'll be in the bathroom."

"Okay… Wait. Karen?"

"Yes?"

"How the hell you know where I live? Moreover, how do you know where is which room?"

"I might or might not have followed you around a bit a month ago" she shrugged. "And room placement is quite obvious, really."

That was when Toshinori decided that he had enough events for today.

Life, however, proved him differently, when Karen just picked him up from the couch way too easily for someone with such would and decided that she'll just cuddle around him in bed. She instantly asleep; even before he managed to say something.

He made a mental note to ask her about the wound first thing in the morning. He deserved that knowledge.

(Her body was cold and a bit stiff.)


	4. Three

Svith - I know it's weird. It's supposed to be weird xD

Akky-nee-chan - Toshi deserves much more than that. He's too good for this world, too pure.

* * *

"It's not healing" was the first thing Karen said after she woke up and lifted the shirt up.

"Wounds like those heal sometime" Toshinori answered, sitting on the bed, finally free from her grip. Not that he actually minded being her body pillow overnight, it was kinda nice.

"Yes, up to ten seconds. And yet, here we are, eleven hours later and it hadn't even started yet."

He blinked, surprised, looking at the woman questioningly.

"You have super-regeneration quirk or something?" he asked finally.

"No, dummy" Karen snickered. "Monsters don't have quirks."

"What do you mean, monsters?" Toshinori asked, as sudden uneasiness dawned over him. The room had grown cold, and dark. Karen looked at him in amusement, her eyes glowing red, like in the evening. He completely forgot about that in this whole mess.

"Sunlight allergy, low body temperature, basically no pulse, red eyes, inhuman power. And the fact that I always make sure to not to show my teeth. Is it really this hard to put the pieces together, Toshi? You're a smart boy" her hair swirled around like an ethereal halo, turning unhealthy white, and her pale skin paled even further.

And then, she smiled, showing off two rows of sharp teeth.

"Let's say I do believe you" Toshinori answered skeptically. "But this doesn't explain anything about your wounds. Actually, it makes it even more complicated."

"I was cursed. Blessed. Whatever" Karen shrugged. "For living creatures it's a blessing, while for undeads like me, a curse. Curse of life, to prevent death. It's trying to revive me, apparently, which will, ironically, lead to my death."

"So you're dying?" he asked, suddenly alarmed, making woman chuckle as her features returned to normal.

"No, by any means. There's no such life blessing to directly endanger an Elder Vampire such as myself. It can, however, make my life a pain. Like with this wound."

"Let me guess; it's supposed to be long since gone?"

"Yup" Karen sighed. "I had pretty bad run-in with Exorcists who 'blessed' me. Don't ask why I meet with them. Then, I went off to take down one nasty slave trader they were covering, and got this. I'm getting the vibe that they set it up, but at least I did what I came there for."

"Oh… Wait. Slave trader?" Toshinori perked up instantly.

"Not all monsters are as nice as me" Karen waved her hands in the air. "Some still think of humans as of mere cattle. Livestock; just food, sometimes playthings."

"Disgusting" man hissed, turning his head away.

"Isn't it?" Karen snorted. "I, myself, prefer blood already chilled. Blood banks are like heaven for us, you know. Especially if you have one of your own in."

"So, you don't attack people?" he asked.

"Depends what you call attacking" she shrugged. "I do kill, of course. Only a week ago I managed to dry whole drug-dealing gang, and two weeks ago I feed off a rapist. Caught both red-handed."

"I can't say I agree with your policy" Toshinori sighed. "But I can't say I completely disagree either."

"It's just a matter of point of view. I live for nearly six centuries now, I know a bit."

"Wait, six centuries?!"

"Uh… You weren't supposed to know that."

Toshinori coughed furiously, gripping shirt on his chest, as blood slowly slid from a corner of his mouth. He moved his hand to wipe it, but Karen was much, much faster, already in front of him, gripping his hands and slowly, lazily licking the blood. Toshinori could've sworn that, aside his face, his ears and neck instantly turned bright red as well. They were burning anyway.

Karen hummed quietly, pulling away slightly and looked at him with very smug smirk he made sure to register. He opened his mouth to say something, but he wasn't given a chance, gasping in surprise as her lips instantly met his, gently but possessively, and he succumbed to the feeling, leaning closer.

That was much more of a woman contact he had in years. Actually, he was pretty sure he could count with just one hand all the times he was with a woman at least this close in his whole life. School, training, then hero work, and then his injury; first he had no time, and then, that all would just run away nonetheless.

Karen, however, didn't run. No, she was actually drawn more to his true form than to All Might. It made him really, really happy.

He parted his lips open even wider, inviting, and moved his tongue, out of pure curiosity. And nearly cur his tongue on one of Karen's fangs. Fangs meant for tearing through skin and flesh.

Karen pulled back nearly instantly with a hiss, and looked at him on a verge of irritated.

"Are you fucking nuts?" she hissed, pushing him slightly away. "I'm wounded and weakened, and you nearly cut yourself- You think I would be able to hold back?"

"I don't know" he shook his head with a grimace.

"Me neither, but I'd rather not find out" Karen huffed, looking under her shirt. "Well, at least I healed a bit thanks to blood you coughed."

"That's a good thing" Toshinori agreed.

"Doesn't mean I'm done with you, though."

"Wh- Dear Lord, Karen, I have work to do! Besides, it's so sudden…"

"Sudden? Toshi, we've been on three dates already, gimme a break, I'm the one who's supposed to be old-fashioned here."

"Dates…? You mean the meetin-"

Karen silenced him with another kiss that made him see the stars in nearly literal way.


	5. Four

**Ivy9825** \- I'm glad you like this weird fic o3o

* * *

Toshinori left for his hero work later than usual for obvious reasons. Actually, not really, because he didn't feel like leaving Karen alone. Her wound really did not look appealing, and didn't seem to heal the slightest, with exception to when she got a bit of his blood. But amount of healed tissue was actually really insignificant compared to size of the wound. Karen was in pain, even if she was withstanding it much better that anyone he knew would, but even she succumbed to it a little.

However, his work called, so did people to be saved and villains to be caught. And after nth time assuring that she will just stay in bed, Toshinori finally let her to chase him off to work. After a long parting kiss, that is. It still seemed so ridiculously surreal for him, but he resented from thinking about the fact for the time being. He would eventually confront his feelings once he got home. If Karen wouldn't get another stupid idea, that is.

He felt surprisingly good today, to be honest. So good that his body allowed him to go almost two hours past his limit, instead of just less than one. And he didn't even fell all that worn out after five hours of All Might-ing around, as he was supposed to. He didn't know what caused it, but he was grateful for additional time.

When he entered his flat, he was greeted by very pleasant smell of food, and he instantly remembered just how hungry he was. However, it also meant that Karen wasn't resting.

"Welcome home" she said when he entered the kitchen. She basically drowned in fabric of too big, long-sleeved, dark blue shirt. She wasn't exactly petite or anything, but quite short; and all his clothes were meant to accommodate his drastic size change, so it looked like a dress on her, with sleeves rolled up. She tied her hair in a bun.

"You were supposed to be resting" Toshinori muttered, walking over to grab some snacks. Karen instantly slapped his hand with a stern look.

"Sit down and wait, I didn't cook for you to eat something else" she hissed. "And trust me, even remembering how to cook proved quite challenging. I don't eat human food that often."

"Oh" was all he managed.

"Don't worry, it won't be hard on what is left of your stomach" she assured.

It wasn't, really. Rice, chicken, and tomato-based sauce with fresh salad. So she apparently went shopping as well. As much as the food was great – better than anything he ate in weeks in both taste and level of healthiness, he was not happy with her moving around so much with that wound. And yes, he was perfectly aware he was being a hypocrite.

"Toshi, I'm not human. This isn't even staining me a bit" she answered, and he looked up instantly. Was she reading his mind or something? "And yes, I can do that. Actually, I'm doing it. Sorry, I should stop, reading minds without 'victim's' consent is rude."

"What exactly can you do?" Toshinori inquired finally, his curiosity taking the best of him.

"Well, there's strength and speed for starters, and accelerated healing. Agility, senses, all that stuff. I'm able to track targets by heat, see heat signatures through walls, echolocate, control and read minds. I can also transform and summon demons. And no, I'm not 'allergic' to garlic, silver or water, dunno where people got this idea. Just sun, because my half-dead body is unable to produce enough melanin to fully withstand the UV rays."

"So, vampires aren't creatures of magic or something?" he asked.

"Well, we are. We can use magic, this is what we base on, but goddamn it – I won't start burning if you'll throw silver at me. Actually, most of my jewelry is silver."

"How about stakes? Or fire?" he inquired, even if he knew he wasn't supposed to.

"Pfft, darling. How long will you survive if your heart is in shambles? How long will you live if your body turns to dust?" she asked, and he had to admit her right. "We're much, much harder to kill than humans, but it doesn't mean that we can't die the same ways they do. Except for hanging and drowning, we don't exactly need to breathe. And disease, because we're immune."

"That makes a lot of sense" Toshinori admitted, before realizing that he actually ate more than he usually would. And, yet again, felt no side effects of it whatsoever. The change confused him; normally, he would instantly start feeling really bad.

"Is something wrong?" Karen asked, concerned.

"No, it's just… I don't know. I feel better" he admitted. "I pushed my limit to being nearly twice the usual time, and now I ate the amount of which my body shouldn't be able to process… And yet, I'm perfectly fine. I don't understand that."

"So it worked" Karen mused, smiling gently. "Glad to hear that."

"What worked?" Toshinori asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"I managed to transfer some of that cursed… Ahem, 'blessed' energy that's trapped in me onto you. Relieved myself a bit. Glad to hear you're feeling better as well."

"Transferred?" he asked. "How?"

"Well, I can do that again, if you want…"

He was on couch, trapped underneath her before he could even process that she picked him up and carried to the living room. He didn't protest when she connected their lips, wrapping his arms around her instead. He was, also, much less flustered than in the morning, thankfully. At least he wasn't paralyzed anymore.

He purred, pulling Karen even closer, her body unnaturally cold for human standards, but it wasn't bothering him. Her lips, so cold and yet so soft gave off a very weird sensation on his own, hot and dry, but it was rather nice.

Weird. He could've sworn that her body was warmer in the morning.

"Goddamn, Toshi" she gasped after she finally managed to pull away from his lips, although not far at all. "Why the hell must you be so damn cute?"

"I'm not cute" he huffed, redness on his cheeks deepening.

"Okay, sweet. Good now?"

"No."

Karen huffed, puffing her cheeks.

Toshinori just laughed, loudly. And he didn't cough any blood afterwards.


	6. Five

He's so delicate in her arms, so fragile, so thin. Easy prey, he should be. By she can't; she never would. Not him – he means too much, he is too good.

All men are pigs, her mother used to say. All of them. Toys for women to play with, but all begin broken anyway. At first, she believed. But then she didn't. She had enough experience for luxury of trusting that somewhere out there, good men still exist.

But a good man among humans? That was unlikely. And yet, it happened anyway.

Toshinori shivered in her embrace, nightmares plaguing his mind, his hands gripping the fabric of her shirt. He fell asleep fast, tired from the day and pushing himself far beyond his limit. She knew what he dreamt off; she allowed herself to look. And she didn't like the images he saw. It was red, and black, and there was pain. He was reliving memories of what happened four years ago. Of what brought him to the state he was in now. Of how it made him suddenly aware of his own fragility and the fact that he might die sooner than he expected to.

She, however, was selfish. Greedy, even. And she was not easily parted with anything she grown to care for. And she cared for him. A lot.

She eased the nightmare, held him even closer and whispered soft, sweet nothings to him until he stopped shivering. And with that, she closed her eyes and her mind faded away.

~•(x)•~

When he awoke, he was already alone, and no trace of sound in his flat. He laid down on his bed for a while, but he didn't hear anything, save for slow ticking on the clock and his own breath. He was alone, and it felt odd to him. It was only two days, and he perhaps shouldn't build up any home, because it was him in the first place, but he did. He had talent of doing things he wasn't supposed to.

His small flat seemed so empty without Karen sitting on the couch and fussing about her wound.

He ate fast, dressed up and went to do his daily piece of heroics instead of thinking. It was better; but it was peaceful, so he just walked around in his true form, vigilant for anything out of order. The villains and criminals however, seemed to vanish after yesterday.

It was already past the dinnertime when, upon walking by a side alley, he felt heavy, wet, metallic odor. Blood. He stopped in his tracks, looking at the alley, but he was apparently the only one disturbed by the scent; it was faint, even very, but it was fresh and he felt it better than he should. It made him want to return the little of a dinner he had, but he had to investigate.

Alley itself was empty, save for all the trash, but there was door kicked out of its frame, rusty and metal, dent indicating a heeled shoe. It was from where the odor came. He instantly switched forms and walked in as silently as it was only possible for him.

First thing he saw was a corpse; a dry, but fresh corpse with throat ripped open. It was dried from all blood, wrinkled and brown, like a mummy, laying right before him. On the table to his right were seated various things; and even from here he could see at least two that were illegal.

It lashed at him from the shadows, low growl and sweet scent of rotting flesh he registered almost too late. It jumped at him, and pushed to the wall, surprising with raw strength. He barely had any time to power up, and even for All Might it was difficult to hold steady ground. Creature pinned him to the wall effortlessly and snapped jaws right before his face. It looked like a human… In a way. It also looked dead and monstrous, almost like a zombie. It snapped it's jaws before his face again, and he tried to push it back. Only to find that he was unable to – creature latched onto the wall with all its limbs, and refused to let go. It was not like he was weakening; he felt better than in a long time actually. It was just that thing being ridiculously strong.

Next time it tried to reach him, he was sure it would finally manage to bite him. It didn't, however. A flash of black and red twirled around, powerful, clawed hand grabbed creature's head and tore it off in one swift motion, leaving only its lower jaw hanging in gruesome way.

Toshinori – All Might – looked down, into two red orbs half-hidden between cascades of white, and let out a sigh of relief before he could stop.

"Are you stupid or what?" Karen hissed, baring her teeth. All of them were fangs now. "Taking on a ghoul, even with your strength, is a complete idiocy without preparation!"

"I'm not the one who vanished without as much as a word, excuse me," he bit back, instinctively depowering. Karen stopped for a while, surprised, then looked away, blushing slightly.

"Well, I guess I could've left you a note… But I was in a rush, okay!" she defended herself. "I got a call at about fifth in the morning, stating that they finally found the human trafficker's bases, and I needed to go and get the guy, but there were few hideouts in the city. This one is the last, and… Well. I also wanted to go home for clothes later; your clothes are nice, but not exactly fit for me to go out and do shopping, soo…"

"Wait, human trafficker?" Toshinori asked, tilting his head.

"Oh, yeah. Normal human, mind you. He was working illegally, selling weapons, drugs and 'human livestock', as they called it, but neither police nor heroes could do shit, so somebody who actually cared had to do it," she explained. "He also bought some ghouls from someone, damn. I need to note Vlad about some dumb vamp turning people into ghouls and selling them as bodyguard-pets…"

"Whoa there, I don't think I'm keeping up with all this," Toshinori interrupted. "Vlad? Like the Dracula? And what on Earth are ghouls?"

"The very same Impaler, straight from Transylvania," Karen laughed. "And ghouls are made when vampire injects human with too little venom to change them into a vampire."

"I still don't get it."

"I know. Now, come on, I need to go home grab some clothes."

"Wait, what? With me?"

"Yup! Now come on, traffic will be awful soon."

~•(x)•~

Maybe he knew what to expect, maybe he didn't; but he was surprised nonetheless. She lived in a bloody castle- Or, at least, in a villa that heavily resembled one. Except that it was smooth and pale in coloring, and had quite a few windows. It was tall building, having five floors above ground, and, he was willing to bet, some more underground. And it all surrounded with lush, beautiful garden, with a fountain (of course a fountain, with a dolphin to that) before the main entrance.

But it was on the very suburbs of the city, where rich people did such extravagant things.

Karen told him to wait in the garden, and so he did, sitting on a bench under the tree, between bushes of tea-colored roses, not far from the fountain. He closed his eyes and sighed, allowing the little sun that made it through lush crown of trees onto his face.

"So," a voice sounded, more in his head than around him, startling the man. "You are the human my mother choose this time?"

He looked around, and only then gasped loudly, upon laying his eyes on the fountain. There, on top of the dolphin, in the broad sunlight, gigantic bat stretched its jet-black wings lazily, yawning and thus, showing off row of sharp, needle-like teeth.

"Who are you?" Toshinori asked, eyeing the bat. It turned its head and looked at him with eyes clearer than the sky above them, so blue it almost glowed.

"Are you deaf, superhero?" bat asked, and its muzzle didn't even twitch. "Haven't you heard when I said 'mother'?"

"You are Kurona!" he yelled, jumping to his feet, shocked even more as realization dawned on him. Bat just looked at him and smiled, showcasing its teeth some more. Then it leapt from the dolphin, circled around the fountain and landed just before Toshinori, changing in mid-air. In a whirl of black mist, instead of a bat, a girl landed on her feet.

She sure looked young, seventeen perhaps, just as Karen said, but he couldn't be sure, given what she was. Her hair was long, black, and, unlike her mother's, straight, and her eyes blue, dark, like a stormy night. She dressed very fashionably, but her shirt almost made Toshinori snort.

' _I'll be impressed with technology when I can download food_ ' it said. But she was Karen's daughter, alright. They looked awfully similar, to be honest.

"Wow, you even know my name," she said in completely unimpressed voice with completely unamused face, taking her phone out of a pocket of her jeans. "I'm impressed."

She clearly was not.

"Is there anything you need?" Toshinori asked, eyeing the girl. She just shrugged.

"Save for the fact that I just wanted to meet my mom's new boyfriend, not much," she answered. "Because, surprise, surprise, it's kinda big deal for me, so."

"Oh. I- Well. Nice to meet you then, I'm Yagi Toshinori."

"Wow, you're such a dork. Exactly as mom said," Kurona snorted, smiling gently. "Normally, I'd find you and kill you, but you know what? I kinda like you. You make mom happy, so you can live. For the time being, of course."

"Uhhh, thank you?" Toshinori said, now looking a bit scared. Kurona looked at him, at her phone, and then burst out laughing, snapping a picture of him in meantime.

"You really are such a dork," she giggled. "But I think I know what mom sees in you. You seem like a good guy. Reckless, I do watch the news, but a good guy nonetheless."

"Well, I'm glad to know you don't mind me around," he answered, scratching back of his neck.

"You would've known if I did," girl shrugged, and he couldn't help but agree. "Now, I gotta go, dropped by only for a while, and mom's back anyway. So, cya'!"

"Goodbye, Kurona!" Toshinori called, as the huge black bat darted from a whirl of black mist, and between the trees.

"I'm glad you're on good terms with my daughter," Karen laughed, and Toshinori turned around, startled once again. By 'back', Kurona apparently meant that Karen snuck behind him and made herself comfortable on the bench. "She doesn't take much kindly to my boyfriends, you know. You're the first one she doesn't mind since Arashi's father, and that was twelve years ago."

"Well then, I'm honored. I think."

"You better be. She will be stronger than me, once her power matures, and if there's anything in this pathetic world monsters like us value, it's family," Karen said. "Even if it's her mother's yet another boyfriend."

"Flattering."


End file.
